THE  COLUMBIAN  UNIVERSITY 


ADDRESS 


OF 


HERBERT  PUTNAM,  Litt.D.,  LL.  D 

LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS 


AT  THE 


EIGHTY-SECOND  ANNUAL  COMMENCEMENT 


OF  THE 


DEPARTMENTS  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 


JUNE  3,  1903 


AT  THE  NATIONAL  THEATER 


Washington,  d.  c. 


fmm 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

JUDD  & DETWEILER,  PRINTERS 
1903 


oil  .2.T- 


ADDRESS 


OF 


THE  LIBRARIAN  OF  CONGRESS. 


President  Needham,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

To  a librarian  such  an  occasion  as  this  is  a tempting  one. 
We  are  at  the  National  Capital,  under  the  shadow  of  a con- 
stitution, at  the  heart  of  a national  system,  based  upon 
books ; constructed — with  some  compromises  ! — upon  discus- 
sion of  the  best  models  which  books  afford.  We  are  under 
an  administration  whose  first  magistrate  is  a historian  and 
man  of  letters,  whose  second — to  go  no  further — is  a man  of 
letters  and  historian.  We  are  in  an  era  when  men  from 
academic  life  are  being  incessantly  and  increasingly  drawn, 
into  the  public  service,  and  asked  to  bring  to  its  problems 
j udgments  formed  by  the  study  of  books.  And  the  occasion 
itself  is  an  academic  one, — with  every  justification  that  that 
implies  for  eulogium  of  the  power  and  of  the  instruction 
which  through  books  are  brought  to  us  from  the  ages  past 
and  from  the  lands  beyond  our  gate. 

Such  an  occasion  is,  I say,  for  a librarian  a tempting  one ; 
for  an  audience  therefore  perhaps  a perilous  one.  And  yet  the 
choice  of  a librarian  to  deliver  an  address  to  a graduating 
class  is  singular.  For  you  who  are  leaving  the  academic 
portals  are  supposed  to  be  laying  aside  books.  You  are 
leaving  them  to  take  up  life.  At  some  institutions  you 
would  leave  them  in  ashes  : you  would  burn  them,  as  things 


2 


whose  utility,  so  far  as  you  are  concerned,  has  passed,  and 
for  whose  recent  tyranny  you  might  now  show  your  just 
contempt.  You  are  about  to  enter  upon  life  itself;  and 
have  no  longer  use  for  books,  which  give  you  life  only  at 
second  hand.  This  occasion  would  then  be  the  least  appro- 
priate for  a panegyric  upon  books  or  an  exposition  of  the 
uses  of  books.  But  I propose  neither.  I have  been  asked  to 
say  something  to  you  not  about  books  (though  they  are  not 
forbidden),  but  about  libraries ; and  not  about  libraries  in 
general  but  about  a particular  system  of  libraries,  the  system 
which  forms  part  of  the  laboratory  equipment  of  your  uni- 
versity itself.  This  may  be  to  the  purpose  : for  as  alumni 
and  alumnse,  the  interests  of  your  university  will  be  with 
you  still  a chief  concern.  You  will  wfish  to  do  all  in  your 
power  to  augment  its  resources : you  will  at  least  wish  to  be 
able  to  state  with  clearness  and  precision  just  what  these 
resources  are,  in  order  that  the  university  may  secure  a 
proper  repute  for  them,  which  will  draw  to  its  faculty  men 
of  strength  and  to  its  student-body  men  and  women  ambi- 
tious for  the  best.  This  will  be  your  duty  to  it  as  graduates, 
your  primary  duty,  and  a small  enough  acknowledgment  of 
the  benefits  which  you  have  received  from  it. 

I incline  to  take  as  text  a passage  from  an  unfamiliar 
book : perhaps  the  only  book  within  your  reach  which  you 
have  not  read  during  the  past  four  years.  It  is  the  Cata- 
logue of  Columbian  University.  And  the  passage  is  that  in 
the  introduction  entitled  the  “ Educational  Advantages  of 
Washington.”  Part  of  it  deals  with  the  opportunities,  at 
the  Medical  Museum  and  elsewhere,  for  the  study  of  normal 
and  morbid  anatomy  and  of  dental  perfections  and  im- 
perfections : matters  of  intimate  concern,  but  not  within  my 


3 


field.  Another  part  calls  attention  to  the  Government  labo- 
ratories of  science,  whose  methods  offer  a profitable  field  of 
study  and  whose  apparatus  is  to  some  extent  made  available 
to  student  investigators.  The  most  of  it,  however,  consists 
of  a statement  of  the  library  resources  in  Washington,  with 
a reference  to  the  Resolution  of  Congress,  approved  April  12, 
1892,  which  makes  such  of  them  as  are  subject  to  the  federal 
government  “ accessible  * * * to  students  of  any  insti- 

tution of  higher  education  now  incorporated  or  hereafter  to 
be  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Congress  or  of  the  District 
of  Columbia.”  The  resolution  uses  the  term  “ collections,” 
which  includes  much  more  than  books : but  every  govern- 
ment institution  or  bureau  mentioned  contains  a library,  and 
the  list  starts  off  with  the  Library  of  Congress.  The  state- 
ment in  the  catalogue  is  clear;  but  I should  like  to  expand 
it  a little.  The  list  includes  but  twelve  institutions  and 
bureaus.  Twenty-two  others  supported  by  the  federal  Gov- 
ernment have  collections  of  books  which  under  present  prac- 
tice are  now  in  fact  equally  accessible  to  the  student  and  to 
any  serious  investigator.  There  are  thus  in  the  city  of  AVash- 
ington  thirty-four  governmental  libraries  freely  available  for 
research.  These  libraries  now  contain  in  the  aggregate  over 
two  million  books  and  pamphlets  and  over  a half  million 
other  articles  literary  in  character — manuscripts,  maps,  music 
and  prints.  If  we  add  to  them  the  contents  of  the  District 
Library  and  of  the  libraries  of  private  associations  and  insti- 
tutions,— The  Catholic  University,  Georgetown  College,  Co- 
lumbian itself,  and  others, — we  shall  have  a total  not  merely 
greater  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  other  city  of  this  size  in 
the  world ; but  one  which  in  proportion  to  population  rep- 
resents several  times  as  many  volumes  per  capita  as  exist  for 
public  use  in  any  other  city  of  the  world. 


4 


The  character  of  these  collections  is  still  more  significant. 
If  you  will  take  that  catalogue  of  your  university  and  will 
check  through  the  list  of  courses  you  will  find  not  one  to  the 
pursuit  of  which  some  governmental  library  cannot  contrib- 
ute ; and  only  one  to  which  the  government  fails  to  furnish 
a practically  efficient,  if  not  entirely  complete,  working 
library.  (The  exceptional  course  is  Biblical  literature:  but 
even  this  may  not  require  literary  resources  more  elaborate 
than  the  needs  of  Congress  have  called  for  in  the  Library  of 
Congress.)  The  most  significant  circumstance  is,  however, 
that  of  these  thirty-four  governmental  libraries  thirty-three 
exist  for  the  purpose  of  developing  each  a collection  within 
a particular  field,  while  the  thirty-fourth  (the  Library  of  Con- 
gress) as  a national  library  is  a library  general  in  scope  and 
has  for  its  field  all  literature. 

The  library  of  each  scientific  bureau  is  seeking  every  book 
within  its  means  which  will  aid  to  the  work  of  that  bureau. 
These  libraries  as  a whole  are  thus  developing  in  response  to 
the  needs  of  specialists  and  under  their  direction.  Now  the 
scientific  work  of  the  federal  government  in  the  bureaus 
touches  almost  every  branch  of  the  natural  and  physical 
sciences.  The  resulting  collections  of  books  are  thus  coming 
to  be  large  and  efficient  special  libraries  covering  most  of  the 
sciences  which  enter  into  the  curriculum  of  a university. 
The  student  of  medicine  has  accessible  to  him  the  Library  of 
the  Surgeon-General’s  office,  which  is  not  merely  the  largest 
but  the  most  efficient  medical  library  in  the  world.  The 
student  of  the  common  law  has  in  the  library  of  the  Supreme 
Court  (a  division  of  the  Library  of  Congress)  a collection  of 
Statutes,  Reports  and  Commentaries  which  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  United  States,  though  for  lack  of  space  it  can- 


5 


not  for  the  present  be  fully  efficient,  nor  even  uniformly  ac- 
cessible. The  student  of  the  civil  law,  of  international  law, 
of  comparative  jurisprudence  is  not  yet  adequately  provided 
for ; but  he  is  to  be.  The  libraries  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, of  the  State,  War  and  Navy  Departments,  of  the  De- 
partment of  Justice,  of  the  Bureau  of  Education,  of  the  Geo- 
logical Survey,  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  of  the 
Patent  Office,  of  the  National  Museum,  of  the  Weather 
Bureau,  of  the  Labor  Bureau,  of  the  Naval  Observatory,  rep- 
resent each  a collection  specially  constructed  for  specific  and 
authoritative  service  within  the  particular  field  indicated  by 
its  title. 

Of  course  the  material  accumulated  in  these  collections 
will  be  primarily  that  which  aids  the  investigations  or  bears 
upon  the  operations  of  the  Government.  But  even  thus  it 
covers  pretty  nearly  every  division  of  pure  science,  the  nat- 
ural and  physical  sciences,  law,  medicine  and  mathematics. 
It  does  not  cover  the  philosophical  sciences,  theology,  phi- 
lology, the  fine  arts  or  belles  lettres ; nor  in  any  general 
way  sociology.  It  touches  technology  only  in  the  library  of 
the  Patent  Office,  and  history  chiefly  in  the  library  of  the 
State  Department.  But  all  these  subjects  for  one  reason  and 
another,  and  in  particular  because  they  are  not  covered  by 
any  other  governmental  collection,  are  a particular  obliga- 
tion upon  the  Library  of  Congress. 

When  the  resolution  of  Congress  took  effect  eleven  years 
ago  the  Library  of  Congress  was  a huge  but  undigested  mass 
of  material,  partly  shelved,  but  in  larger  part  in  heaps,  on 
the  floor,  in  closets,  in  vaults,  under  stairways — 700,000  vol- 
umes crowded  into  spaces  in  the  aggregate  capable  of  afford- 
ing accessible  accommodation  for  less  than  half  that  number. 


6 


It  was  not  and  could  not  be  systematically  classified ; it  had 
not  and  could  not  have  complete  or  exact  catalogues, — nor 
any  catalogue  accessible  to  the  public.  It  lay  in  the  Cap- 
itol— a building  primarily  for  legislative  uses.  It  was  ad- 
ministered by  a force  of  but  forty-two  persons,  who  were  in 
addition  charged  with  the  entire  copyright  business — and 
had  no  adequate  facilities  for  any  part  of  their  business, 
much  less  a margin  of  facilities  which  could  give  aid  and 
comfort  to  a reader.  The  fund  for  increase  was  but  $10,000 
a year. 

Today  the  Library  of  Congress  is  a collection,  including 
duplicates,  of  over  1,100,000  books  and  pamphlets  and  nearly 
half  a million  other  articles.  It  is  housed  in  a building 
devoted  to  its  sole  use : the  largest  library  building  in  the 
world,  the  most  commodious,  the  most  efficient  in  equipment 
for  the  work  which  it  has  to  do ; — a building  which  pro- 
vides for  ample  classification  and  display  of  the  material, 
for  reasonable  growth  and  for  a multitude  and  great  variety 
of  service ; — a building  which  may  accommodate  a thou- 
sand readers  at  a time  and  differentiate  them  to  their  best 
advantage.  As  against  forty-two  employees  for  all  purposes 
there  are  now  in  its  service  (including  the  force  caring  for 
the  building,  the  Copyright  Office,  and  the  Branch  bindery 
and  printing  office)  four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  per- 
sons. From  $10,000  a year  the  funds  for  increase  have 
risen  to  $100,000  a year.  The  Library  still  receives  without 
cost  two  copies  of  every  book  or  other  article  entered  under 
the  copyright  law ; it  has  the  benefit  of  the  international 
exchanges  of  public  documents ; and  it  is  the  custodian  of 
the  library  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution — a superb  collec- 
tion of  the  publications  of  learned  societies.  The  books  are 


7 


shelved ; and  a modern,  expansive  system  of  classification 
is  being  applied  to  them.  A card  catalogue,  not  merely  by 
authors,  but  also  by  subject,  is  being  compiled,  and  as  com- 
piled is  made  available  to  the  public.  Reference  lists  and 
bibliographies  of  special  subjects  of  current  or  of  scholarly 
interest  are  being  issued  in  book  form  and  freely  distributed. 
The  Library  has  still  Ainsworth  Spofford  and  the  other  men 
who  with  him  made  the  collection  at  the  Capitol  useful  in 
spite  of  harassing  conditions.  And  it  has  gained  numerous 
other  experts,  including  some  who  are  in  a different  sense 
specialists — who  have  had  specific  training  in  the  subject 
matter  of  various  departments  of  knowledge.  It  has,  for 
instance,  such  specialists  in  history,  in  economics,  in  the- 
ology, in  philology,  in  chemistry,  in  physics,  mathematics, 
astronomy,  biology,  ethnology,  technology,  music ; compe- 
tent linguists,  of  course  (books  are  now  being  catalogued  in 
over  a hundred  different  languages  and  dialects);  accom- 
plished bibliographers ; highly  trained  classifiers  and  cata- 
loguers ; experts  in  the  art  of  making  books  useful,  and 
whatever  else  goes  to  the  technique  of  library  administra- 
tion— but  also  specialists. 

This  large  force,  except  as  it  may  be  caring  for  .the  plant 
or  directly  busy  with  the  reader,  is  engaged  in  systematizing 
the  collection,  in  equipping  it  with  efficient  apparatus,  and  in 
aiding  to  develop  it  by  wise  choice  of  material  to  be  pur- 
chased. To  their  counsel  is  added  that  of  many  users  of  the 
Library  who  are  themselves  specialists : the  scientists  in  the 
government  service,  members  of  the  faculties  of  near-by  in- 
stitutions of  learning, — of  your  own  faculties.  With  these 
and  other  resources  of  counsel  the  Library  is  now,  with  its 
more  ample  funds,  in  a way  to  develop  systematically.  It 


8 


is  progressing  toward  its  goal.  And  this  goal  is:  an  organic 
collection  covering  every  department  of  literature  save  such 
as  are  of  necessity  more  appropriately  covered  by  other  gov- 
ernmental libraries  within  the  district. 

The  Library  of  Congress  was  established  primarily  for  the 
use  of  Congress;  but  in  its  content  it  was  never  merely  a legis- 
lative library.  With  its  present  resources  it  is  becoming  a 
library  not  merely  national,  but  general.  It  is  seeking  to  ac- 
quire every  book  not  already  in  possession  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  is  in  content  a contribution  to  knowledge. 
Countless  books  there  are  which  it  can  never  acquire : which 
are  nevertheless  the  relish  of  the  collector  and  give  distinc- 
tion to  great  libraries  abroad.  But  these  are  books,  or 
editions,  whose  interest  is  in  their  form  or  rarity,  not  in  their 
content.  Manuscripts  also  it  will  lack  which  are  literary 
memorials  and  sources  of  history.  But  in  so  far  as  these  bear 
upon  American  History  it  is  likely  to  secure  the  substance 
of  them  in  copies,  transcript  or  facsimile.  For  it  will  en- 
deavor to  secure  for  use  at  Washington  the  substance,  and 
where  possible  the  form  also,  of  every  document  which  at 
present  requires  of  the  investigator  a trip  to  London  or  Paris 
or  Rome  or  Madrid  or  Seville  or  Simancas  or  the  City  of 
Mexico.  For  the  study  of  American  history  indeed  this 
Library  and  this  city  must  be  the  centres.  The  manuscript 
sources  in  the  present  possession  of  the  government  would 
alone  require  this.  The  first  two  grants  by  the  Carnegie 
Institution  for  historical  research  recognize  it:  one  is  for  a 
statement  by  experts,  more  precise  and  more  thorough  than 
has  ever  before  been  accomplished,  as  to  the  nature,  value, 
location  and  availability  of  these  sources;  another  is  a grant 
for  the  maintenance  at  Washington  of  an  expert  and  assist- 


9 


ants,  who  shall  aid,  advise  in  and  direct  research  involving 
the  use  of  them. 

But  I refer  to  American  history  chiefly  by  way  of  example ; 
for  I can  think  of  few  branches  of  research  involving  the  use 
of  books  for  which  Washington  will  not  in  time  offer  ex- 
ceptional facilities. 

The  Library  of  Congress  still  specially  serves  Congress ; 
it  has  a special  duty  to  serve  the  Executive  departments  and 
scientific  bureaus  of  the  government;  but  it  has  in  addition 
an  ample  margin  of  service  to  render  to  inquirers  at  large. 
It  is  a free  public  library;  it  is  such  to  a degree  not  indicated 
by  its  title.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  a library  primarily  for  refer- 
ence use.  So  is  every  national  library  in  the  world ; so  are 
most  of  the  great  research  libraries  eyen  of  this  country.  As 
a library  of  record  it  has  a duty  to  preserve ; as  a library  for 
research  it  may  perhaps  best  aid  serious  use  by  ensuring  that 
the  bulk  of  its  collections  shall  be  found  by  an  investigator 
within  its  walls. 

But  these  considerations  do  not  preclude  the  issue  for 
home  use  of  a book  required  for  a serious  purpose  by  an  in- 
vestigator who  cannot  use  it  within  the  building.  Indeed, 
the  only  regulation  of  use  that  has  been  formulated  express- 
ing the  intent  of  the  administration  is  : “ The  broadest  pos- 
sible use  consistent  with  the  convenience  of  Congress,  the 
freest  possible  use  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  collec- 
tions.” 

Consider  then  what  Washington  is  to  offer — what  Colum- 
bian University  is  to  offer : not  a library  but  a whole  sys- 
tem of  libraries, — special  libraries  in  particular  fields  of 
knowledge,  and  a general  library  covering  every  remaining 
field  of  knowledge  and,  so  far  as  possible,  all  existing  pro- 
2 


10 


curable  literature.  The  system  is,  to  be  sure,  not  yet  organic. 
The  various  constituent  libraries  have  heretofore  been  devel- 
oped independently  and  without  due  regard  for  the  field  and 
the  service  proper  to  each.  But  a cooperation  is  now  en- 
tered upon  which  will  mean:  a proper  differentiation  of 
each ; uniformity  of  methods ; the  centralization  of  cata- 
loguing ; cooperative  bibliographies ; the  interchange  of 
material ; and  mutual  service.  The  result  may  be  an  or- 
ganic system  of  libraries  unparalleled  elsewhere.  Did  rhet- 
oric permit  I might  call  it  “ the  most  unique  ” library  sys- 
tem in  the  world.  But  rhetoric  doesn’t  permit ; — also,  that 
title  has  been  appropriated  by  another  “ library  system  ” 
with  which  we  need  not  enter  into  competition. 

This  library  system  of  the  government  is  a laboratory  for 
the  university ; and  it  is  a laboratory  maintained  without  a 
dollar  of  expense  to  the  University — a prime  consideration ; 
for  the  University  is  poor.  Of  course  it  is  poor : a univer- 
sity cannot  reputably  be  otherwise  than  poor.  I think,  how- 
ever, of  another  university  of  whose  problems  I have  some 
knowledge, — of  Harvard, — also  poor — with  a great  library, 
to  be  sure,  the  greatest  academic  library  in  this  country,  but 
in  deep  perplexity  for  a building  in  which  to  accommodate 
it  and  for  funds  with  which  to  increase  and  to  administer  it. 
A meagre  $70,000  a year  is  all  that  it  can  spare  for  increase 
and  administration.  And  I cannot  but  contrast  the  fortune 
of  Columbian,  with  even  greater  collections  at  its  disposal, 
maintained  and  increased  at  a cost  of  a million  dollars  a 
year,  but  for  which  it  does  not  have  to  divert  a dollar  from 
its  precious  funds  for  instruction. 

In  1814  George  Ticknor  in  Boston  had  to  send  to  New 
Hampshire  for  a German  dictionary  and  to  ask  Edward 


11 


Everett  for  the  loan  of  a German  grammar.  A Euripides  in 
the  original  could  not  be  bought  at  any  shop  in  New  Eng- 
land. When  he  went  to  Gottingen  he  was  astonished  at  the 
profuse  expenditure  there  for  books  and  in  contrast  the  per- 
sonal poverty  of  the  professors.  When  a professor  appeared 
in  a new  waistcoast  the  class  burst  into  applause. — “ How,” 
he  asked,  “ did  they  behave  when  he  appeared  in  a new 
coat  ? ” — “A  new  coat ! — a professor  in  a new  coat ! — Gott 
bewahre ! — Such  a thing  never  happened ! ! ” 

Well,  conditions  have  improved  since  Ticknor’s  day. 
There  is  now  a fair  abundance  of  books  at  most  seats  of 
learning.  At  Columbian,  at  least,  they  are  likely  to  be  had 
without  depriving  your  faculty  of  the  luxury  of  an  occasional 
new  coat,  and  of  leading  the  fashion  in  waistcoats. 


I have  been  led  to  speak  of  these  conditions  to  you  this 
evening  because  I could  speak  of  them  as  a*  librarian,  and 
though  not  as  librarian  of  the  university,  yet  in  a sense  as 
one  of  the  librarians  to  the  university.  The  facts  may  be 
familiar  to  you,  but  the  estimate  of  their  significance  from 
the  technical  and  comparative  standpoint  of  us  who  are 
dealing  with  them  professionally  may  be  less  familiar.  Per- 
haps you  have  been  utilizing  these  resources  to  the  full ; at 
all  events  you  will  desire  them  to  be  utilized  by  your  suc- 
cessors; and  certainly  you  will  desire  them  to  count  their 
fullest  in  the  reputation  of  the  university  and  its  power  of 
attraction. 

I have  kept  my  promise  to  abstain  from  the  trite  theme  of 
the  uses  of  books.  You  know  more  of  these  than  I can  tell 
you, — or  than  you  yourselves  will  ever  know  again.  This 


12 


occasion  is  for  you  the  apex, — the  summit  of  the  hill  of 
knowledge, — unsullied  by  experience.  It  is  not  merely  a 
parting  of  the  ways, — it  is  a parting  of  the  wise.  You  will 
never  be  so  wise  again.  You  will  know  more;  but  you  will 
never  again  be  so  wise.  You  will  never  again  have  the  in- 
terest in  books  that  you  have  had  in  the  past  few  years,  nor 
the  confidence  in  their  solution  of  the  problems  of  life  that 
you  have  today.  The  book  which  is  now  to  concern  you  is 
the  book  of  life.  The  book  of  life  isn’t  easy  reading.  And  it 
has  no  index.  Rather,  I should  say,  it  has  an  index,  and 
the  index  is  where  indexes  should  be — at  the  end.  But  it 
is  shut  to  you  till  you  reach  the  end.  Indeed  it  is  a book 
which  each  of  you  must  not  merely  read  but  must  write  for 
himself.  Write  it  fairly,  write  it  sturdily,  and  it  will  be  a 
book  to  last,  even  though  it  never  find  a publisher.  It  will 
at  least  form  a section  of  that  awful  ledger,  kept  by  the  un- 
erring accountant,  which  is  to  yield  up  its  debits  and  credits 
against  you  at  the  final  commencement  day. 

Cotton  Mather  used  to  oblige  his  children  “ to  retire  and 
ponder  on  that  question  ‘ What  should  I wish  I had  done  if 
I were  now  dead.’  ” A salutary  but  somewhat  sombre  diver- 
sion,— to  which  I shall  not  now  invite  you,  though  I might 
find  precedents.  The  world  is  a cheerful  world  today ; and 
the  most  interesting  world  that  ever  was ; and  the  book  that 
your  life  is  to  write  may  if  you  like  be  a cheerful  and  inter- 
esting book,  and  a helpful  one ; for  full  of  service  as  the 
world  appears,  help  is  still  needed. 

It  is  a fashion  of  commencement  addresses  to  advise  you 
howT  to  write  it.  I am  not  the  one  to  advise  you,  and  I shall 
not  try.  I have  undertaken  rather  to  say  something  of  the 
opportunities  which  you  are  leaving  than  of  those  which  lie 


13 


before  you.  If  I should  say  anything  of  these  latter,  it  would 
be  only  to  urge  you  to  apply  to  them  the  ideals,  the  stand- 
ards, and  as  many  as  possible  of  the  methods  for  which  the 
academic  life  stands.  Freedom  is  one : the  academic  freedom, 
which  follows  an  argument  to  its  consequences,  however  in- 
convenient ; freedom  to  form  an  opinion,  and  to  hold,  and 
to  utter  it,  even  though  it  differ  from  your  neighbor’s; 
tolerance  for  his  opinion  though  it  differ  from  yours  ; respect 
for  the  accumulated  judgment  of  the  past  as  against  the 
whim  or  emotion  of  the  present.  But  I need  not  recapitu- 
late them.  They  are  familiar  as  the  qualities  most  precious 
of  the  academic  life.  Do  not,  I beg  of  you,  assume  that 
they  must  be  abandoned  in  the  practical  life. 

The  most  of  you  have  pursued  a course  in  science ; and  you 
have  had  an  opportunity  afforded  in  no  institution  outside 
of  Washington,  of  a near  view  of  a great  body  of  scientific 
workers,  working  at  small  compensation  for  great  utilities, 
unmercenary,  devoted,  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  truth  for 
truth’s  own  sake,  furthest  removed  from  commercialism. 
That  is  a privilege  which  your  Catalogue  does  well  to  rank 
high.  Those  of  you  who  have  pursued  the  liberal  arts  have 
had  in  addition  a larger  participation  in  that  literature 
which  brings  to  you  the  example  of  other  men  of  other 
times.  If  this  literature  can  mean  something  to  you  here- 
after, I would  not,  in  spite  of  my  pledge,  urge  you  to  lay  it 
aside.  I would  not  advise  you  wholly  to  abstain  from  the 
use  of  books  even  in  your  practical  affairs ; — I would  not 
recommend  this  even  to  those  of  you  who  are  to  become 
librarians ! 

Lord  Palmerston  used  to  boast  that  he  “ never  read  printed 
books.”  Well,  Lord  Palmerston  was  a considerable  man  of 


14 


affairs.  He  sat  in  sixteen  parliaments  and  held  office  for 
nearly  half  a century  as  Secretary  of  War,  Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  Premier  and  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury. 
He  “ raised  the  prestige  of  England  throughout  Europe  to  a 
height  which  it  had  not  occupied  since  Waterloo;  created 
Belgium,  saved  Portugal  and  Spain  from  absolutism,  rescued 
Turkey  from  Russia  and  the  highway  of  India  from  France.” 
Signal  achievements.  And  yet  they  might  have  been  more 
admirable  by  a more  admirable  man.  Lord  Palmerston’s 
boast  was,  to  be  sure,  an  affectation.  He  was  a college  bred 
man,  and  his  last  act,  at  eighty  years  of  age,  gouty  and  de- 
crepit, was  to  ride  to  Harrow  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the 
school  library.  He  did  read  books.  But  he  preferred  to  be 
known  not  as  a reader  of  books  but  as  a reader  of  people. 
He  read  these  not  ill,  but  basely.  He  studied  human  nature 
from  its  selfish  side;  he  judged  men  by  their  worst  notions 
and  utilized  their  worst  impulses.  He  studied  and  used  the 
art  of  making  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason.  He  was 
“ content  to  have  the  same  predilections  as  the  majority;  to 
have  the  same  likes  and  dislikes  as  his  country : ” a form  of 
patriotism  doubtless,  but  not  the  highest  patriotism  in  a 
leader  who  from  his  very  eminence  is  able  best  to  see  the 
higher  justice,  and  has  power  to  make  it  plain  to  others. 
Contrast  the  great  leader  who  was  preeminently  the  man 
of  books.  The  “unapproached  supremacy”  of  Gladstone 
lay  in  his  insistence  on  the  ethical;  his  assertion  of  the 
higher  morality  as  against  selfishness  and  present  expedi- 
ency. He  was  an  idealist;  and  it  was  his  idealism — the 
result  of  a profoundly  religious  nature  fostered  by  incessant 
contact  with  books — it  was  his  idealism  that  was  his  motive 
of  action  and  his  power.  Can  any  one  doubt  which  charac- 
ter has  left  the  nobler  impress? — It  may  be  a complacent 


15 


thing  to  have  changed  the  boundary  of  an  empire : it  is  a 
finer  thing  to  have  kept  fixed  before  a great  people  the 
boundary  between^  right  and  wrong. 

Large  examples,  I know,  and  large  affairs.  But  in  the 
moral  world,  as  in  the  aesthetic,  it  is  not  the  size  of  the  affair 
that  counts,  but  the  quality  you  apply  to  it. 

If  you  have  gained  ideals  from  .books,  or  otherwise  from 
your  academic  life  do  not  be  ashamed  of  them  and  do  not 
hesitate  to  apply  them.  They  may  not  be  so  musty  after 
all,  nor  prove  so  inapplicable  to  the  present  uses  of  society. 
The  ancients  cannot  tell  us  much  of  service  to  the  industrial 
arts  of  today  or  to  modern  commerce.  In  technology  the 
entire  body  of  classical  literature  isn’t  a circumstance  to  that 
25  K.  W.  dynamo  which  you  installed  in  your  machine 
shop  last  year.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  moral,  the  social 
and  the  political  questions,  and  the  matters  of  taste  and 
feeling,  even  the  ancients  still  have  something  for  us.  As 
to  these  “no  greater  men  are  now  than  ever  were.”  So 
Emerson  thought  and  said,  and  Emerson  touched  no  mean 
height  himself. 

For  rules  of  conduct  at  least  we  need  not  await  tomor- 
row’s newspaper.  Mr.  Lowell  once  defined  the  aim  of  a 
university  as  he  thought  it : to  “ make  a gentleman  of 
every  youth  put  under  our  charge; — not  a conventional 
gentleman  but  a man  of  culture,  a man  of  intellectual 
resource,  a man  of  public  spirit,  a man  of  refinement, 
with  that  good  taste  which  is  the  conscience  of  the 
mind,  and  that  conscience  which  is  the  good  taste  of  the 
soul.”  An  admirable  epitome,  and  well  suited  to  our  era : 
but  here  is  a description  of  a gentleman  who  lived  eighteen 
centuries  ago  written  by  a gentleman  who  died  over  seven- 
teen centuries  ago.  Consider  if  any  essential  be  lacking. 


16 


“ Gentleness,  yet  unwavering  adherence  to  judgments  formed 
after  due  deliberation ; indifference  to  honors  commonly  so- 
called  ; industry  and  assiduity ; readiness  to  listen  to  any 
scheme  for  promoting  the  public  good  ; an  inflexible  deter- 
mination to  render  every  man  his  due ; tact  to  choose  the 
proper  time  for  severity  and  leniency  * * * a sense  of 

fellowship  with  mankind.  * * * In  every  situation 

* * * contented,  cheery,  thoughtful  of  the  future  and 

careful  about  small  matters,  without  fussiness.  * * * 

Toward  the  gods  not  superstitious  nor  toward  men  dema- 
gogical, obsequious,  ox  studious  of  popularity ; an  enemy  of 
sophistry,  vulgarity  or  pedantry, — in  all  things  sober  and 
steadfast.” 

Standards  change ; and  the  relative  proportions  of  things. 
At  Harvard  in  the  18th  century  they  used  to  fine  profanity 
at  two  shillings  sixpence  and  lying  at  but  one  and  six. 
Today  we  deprecate  profanity,  but  we  abhor  a liar.  Stand- 
ards change ; but  the  essential  qualities  of  a gentleman  as  a 
pagan  saw  them  seventeen  centuries  ago  seem  to  tally  fairly 
with  the  essentials  as  we  see  them  today. 

I think  Lowell’s  aim  for  a university  as  a breeder  of  gen- 
tlemen— gentlemen  of  both  sexes — worthy  of  consideration. 
But  Mr.  Lowell  had  it  must  be  admitted  an  archaic  notion 
of  a university.  He  would  have  preferred  to  see  it  “ a place 
where  nothing  useful  is  taught.”  You  are  going  out  into 
the  world  to  be  useful ; you  are  to  do  practical  things,  not 
merely  to  think  true  and  agreeable  things,  and  I would  not 
for  a moment  diminish  your  ardor  for  this  doing,  nor  the 
glory  of  the  practical  thing  done.  But  where  moral  or  aes- 
thetic standards  apply,  where  a principle  is  involved,  where 
an  ideal  offers,  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  it.  You  may  be  ridi- 
culed: but  ridicule  isn’t  fatal.  You  may  even  be  charged 


17 


with  a rediscovery  of  the  Ten  Commandments ; but  yon  can 
stand  that.  You  will  be  in  good  company.  Also,  the  world 
is  drawing  round  to  the  Ten  Commandments,  though  it 
doesn’t  always  like  to  be  told  so. 

The  fact  is,  at  the  bottom  of  its  heart  the  world  loves  an 
idealist:  at  first  as  it  loves  a lover, — half-quizzically,  as 
something  fragile,  visionary,  to  be  protected  from  itself  and 
himself; — but  then  perhaps  with  ’a  love  that  follows  and 
adopts.  At  the  idealist  it  looks  first  with  amusement,  then 
with  suspicion,  then  with  doubt,  but  finally,  it  may  be,  with 
conviction.  Throughout,  however,  it  looks  to  see  whether 
he  believes  in  himself.  If  he  does,  if  he  shows  true,  it  finally 
begins  to  think  that  after  all  he  may  have  found  something 
that  concerns  it. 

An  idealist  who  fails  is  at  worst  but  rueful.  He  has  not 
succeeded ; but  he  has  stood  for  something  that  deserved  to 
succeed, — that  may  succeed  later  on.  But  is  anything  more 
pitiable  than  the  man  who  has  made  a compromise  and 
then  finds  that  it  wasn’t  necessary  ? — Is  there  any  one  more 
sheepish  ? He  has  retarded  society ; and  he  has  writ  him- 
self a coward. 

I wish  you  good  speed, — but  I wish  you  even  more  a sure 
footing : and  in  the  long  run  (it  is  the  long  run  you  are  now 
entering  upon) — in  the  long  run  the  sure  footing  is  principle 
rather  than  expediency.  Above  all,  I say,  whatever  the 
affair,  big  or  little,  if  you  have  ideals  do  not  be  ashamed  of 
them ; and  if,  as  time  goes  on  you  find,  as  you  certainly  will 
find,  that  by  standing  up  to  and  for  them  you  have  not 
merely  bettered  something  outside  of  yourself,  but  have 
made  your  own  life  simpler,  clearer,  heartier,  cast  a grateful 
thought  backward  to  the  University  which,  with  men — and 
books — has  helped  to  create  them. 

3 


